Lutheran Ping!
Keep a Good Lent!
Posted on 03/13/2010 5:43:55 PM PST by rhema
- Lutheran churches continue to see their highest growth rates in Africa. In Tanzania, 670,000 new members to the church were registered in 2009, making the Tanzanian Lutheran Church the second largest world-wide.
According to statistics revealed by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) today, the Christian society continues to grow fastest in Africa and Asia, while it is declining in the Americas. The total number of members in churches belonging to the LWF last year rose by 1,589,225 to just over 70 million.
Most of this growth is confined to sub-Saharan Africa. "Membership in churches belonging to the LWF in Africa over the past year rose by 1,233,413 or 7.1 percent to a total of 18,520,690" according to these new statistics.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is now the largest LWF member church on the continent, with an increase of around 670,247 members (14.5 percent) recorded last year. This brings the current total to 5,302,727. The Lutheran Church in Tanzania thus becomes the second largest Lutheran church in the world after Church of Sweden, which has 6.75 million members.
The second largest LWF member church in Africa is the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. The membership of the Ethiopian church community increased by 267,336 or 5.3 percent to 5,279,822, also making it the third largest Lutheran church world-wide.
With its unchanged membership of around 3 million people, the Malagasy Lutheran Church remains the third largest LWF member church in Africa.
The fourth largest Lutheran church in Africa, the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, drew 154,950 new members, representing a growth of 8.9 percent for a total of 1.9 million. The other Lutheran church in the country, the Lutheran Church of Nigeria, reported 150,000 members, an increase of 15,000 or 11.1 percent.
Other LWF member churches reporting substantial increases included the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique - up by 6,124 or 94.5 percent to 12,606 total - , the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Angola - up by 11,000 or around 38 percent to 40,000 - and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia, which added 70,000 new members for a present total of 420,000, an increase of 20 percent.
The highest percentage increase among non-LWF Lutheran churches in Africa was reported by the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Chad, up by 92,379 or approximately 434 percent, to a total of 113,684. The membership of non-LWF Lutheran churches on the continent was 196,989, an increase of around 142,774.
The Lutheran church has its historic stronghold in Northern Europe, mainly Germany and Scandinavia, where it is dominant since the 16th century.
Honor the Lord, obey His Word: church grows.
Dishonor the Lord, disobey His Word: church withers.
Keep a Good Lent!
Amazing. One determined guy (Carl Peters?) single handedly and pretty much against Bismarks wishes created a German colony there, if only for a few decades. Now there are more Lutherans there than in Germany?
Aye
I wish the Tanzanians would send missionaries to evangelize the ELCA.
3.5. The Church's Responsibility
3.5.1. The true church of Christ would fail in its responsibility if it were to concede to the pressure from homosexuals and sodomites. The Church has a duty to help homosexuals and sodomites to accept their condition as a spiritual and physical problem.
3.5.2. Homosexual acts and sodomy are traditionally understood as an extreme sexual desire, and if a person under this possession is not helped, it can lead to bestiality. We affirm that sexual act must be confined to the marriage union of a man and a woman.
3.5.2.1. We deplore distorted explanations by several people who use the term "human rights" to justify homosexuality and sodomy. We find this as a deliberate misuse of a good term "human rights". It should be remembered that those forced to accept these deviated lifestyles also have their rights, which need to be protected.
3.5.2.2. Marriage is the only institution which God ordained through His Word to be the foundation of reproduction, growth and civilize society. We thus ask: is it not also a human rights issue that children be raised in community with father and mother?
3.6 Misusing Biblical Texts 3.6.1. Although we are aware that Holy Scripture forbids homosexuality and sodomy, there are theologians who interpret, exegete, and misuse Holy Scripture to support and endorse homosexuality and in its many forms. 3.6.2. The Conference of Bishops rejects biblical expositions done by some theologians and scholars with intent to affirm and legalize homosexuality. The Bible is the foundation of Christian faith and thus the church has an indisputable authority to rightly and scripturally explain faith based on God's word. The church's expositions do not necessarily have to agree with those of the scholars.
3.7 Homosexuality and Priesthood (Ordination) We do not agree with those seeking to ordain homosexuals into the ministry of Word and Sacrament. We even do not accept evangelists, elders and other church rostered servants who are homosexuals. Instead we call upon the church of Christ worldwide to sympathize with them, pray for them and counsel them how to be transformed in their thoughts and intentions.
It is tragic that there is nothing parallel to the Anglican Communion in Lutheranism; for if such a global structure existed the embattled orthodox faithful trapped in the ELCA could come under the jurisdiction of the faithful Bishops of the ELCT, much as the Anglican Mission in North America serves under the jurisdiction of the Rwandans.
“...the Christian society continues to grow fastest in Africa and Asia, while it is declining in the Americas. “
It’s my understanding that Africa and Asia have the fastest rates of Christian growth, regardless of whether they are part of the LWF, or not. Europe claims a lot of Lutherans, due to the state religion numbers, but my years of experience there (Germany, Sweden, France, etc.) show that the churches are bare on Sundays. The Holy Spirit seems to have moved to 3rd world, since the developed countries don’t seem to be interested much anymore.
Having grown up in the LCMS, I get the real sense that they prefer to be the “here I stand” (by myself) conservatives. True, they are conservative...to a fault, wherein they prefer not to have anything to do with others that do not believe every iota that they do, and in their own way. I feel that extends to any overarching organizations (such as LWF) that might stifle their “freedom”.
Well said, and Amen Brother.
I hear you and may God bless them! Are those the traditional (non-pro-gay) Anglicans that are growing in Africa?
lightman,
You are aware, I hope, that the Anglican Communion has NO formal structure? It began, almost literally, as a once-a-decade "tea party" between Mother Church (CofE) and her various offspring, including the eldest and unruly upstart PECUSA in the States, and was never more than that until recent times.
It had long been a convention that there would be no boundary crossings, that each church would be independent within its national borders.
This fell apart, of course, with the growing apostasy of some national churches: US and Canada foremost, but not all. It's growing worse with the decline of Mother Church herself -- the strength and growth now lies with the Global South, Asia and (to a smaller degree) the Continuing Churches within certain national regions.
The old Anglican model might or might not work for the Lutherans, depending upon your structure. Where world-wide Anglicanism is going these days, I have no idea because I have narrowed my focus to my own jurisdiction (for my own sanity).
That's the rub.
Far too many conservative ELCA leaders want nothing to do with Bishops, so those like yours truly who believe that the threefold Office of Ministry (Bishop, Prebyter, Deacon) is the Biblical, apostolic pattern are a minority within a minority.
While I can understand their blanching at the apostacy of most ELCA Bishops, I fail to understand how they cannot appreciate, much less be attacted to the good and godly witness of the Tanzanian Bishops.
Well stated. And the African Lutheran Bishops throughout Africa are models for what a Bishop should be.
You’re wrong about the Missouri Synod. I would explain your mistake in detail, but I’m not supposed to talk to you.
The future is in the South. May a remnant be preserved.
Tell Garrison Keillor. Maybe he’ll move there.
???
Anything is better than Islam (said the Catholic).
I would suggest that rather than “fear” of “freedom” being stifled (however you may be defining freedom), LCMS “standoffishness” may be a matter if not desiring to be yoked with unbelievers, as per the admonishment of Second Corinthians, 6:14-15.
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